Results 861-880 of 2,990 for speaker:Ossian Smyth

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Construction Industry (2 Mar 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I know that progress is being made but there are two sides to it. There is a commercial imperative to do this for reasons of efficiency and progress in technology. The Government also has to provide support through educational schemes, as we have laid out, and bring the different partners together. Ireland is famous for its construction. We have built a lot of major projects abroad over...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Construction Industry (2 Mar 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I agree with everything the Deputy has said. We can look at other countries and recognise that in some cases they are more advanced in their construction methods than we are. That is not only true in Europe but also in Asia. I have spoken to people in China responsible for social housing delivery and so on through off-site construction. Part of what is happening now is that because the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Procurement Contracts (2 Mar 2023)

Ossian Smyth: It is a fair question. Individual Departments are allocated money at budget time. They are given the independence to spend that money with the oversight of the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General. It monitors their expenditure, audits them and then produces a report on each Department. The relevant committees of the Oireachtas can then bring the Accounting Officers before them...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Procurement Contracts (2 Mar 2023)

Ossian Smyth: The key objective of the inflation-supply chain delay co-operation framework introduced in May 2022 is to safeguard public projects that were already under construction or tendered in advance of the exceptional inflation in the price of construction materials, fuel and electricity since the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. While there is evidence to suggest the rate of inflation has...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Procurement Contracts (2 Mar 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Deputy for acknowledging the framework was the right thing to do. We were in a situation where builders or construction firms were unlikely to be able to complete projects because they were no longer able to complete them for the amount of money that had been contracted, as the increase in inflation had not been foreseen. This would have left us in a position where we would have...

Seanad: Project Ireland 2040: Statements (1 Mar 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I thank all Senators for their contributions and their ongoing engagement on the national development plan today. Some important issues were raised and I welcome the opportunity to clarify and elaborate on them. As stated earlier, my Department has been renamed to give an additional focus to the delivery of the NDP and to assist Departments in delivering on their much-needed priority...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Offshore Renewable Energy Development Plan (28 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: The question is on the roll-out of offshore wind turbines. Seven projects have been granted licences and are being fast-tracked under the old system. A new renewable option will be run for the next phase of projects. The projects will be will be plan led rather than developer led and concentrated in certain areas. The point of this is to speed up the development of offshore wind energy...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Offshore Renewable Energy Development Plan (28 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: Offshore wind energy is a large part of the decarbonisation process and is absolutely critical. There has been no policy change. Floating wind turbines will be pursued off the west coast because the water is too deep to support fixed-base wind farms. Those of the east and south coasts, in shallower waters, will be progressed first but there has been no change. If anything, the pace has...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Offshore Renewable Energy Development Plan (28 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: We are supporting both floating and fixed turbines and there has been no policy change.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Environmental Policy (28 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: Yes, there is great appetite on the part of the public. Surveys are showing that people want this. However, at the same time I need to make sure that it is a successfully introduced scheme and that it takes account of all the concerns that are raised by cafés which have made their submissions so I am taking time over that. There will be some changes to the draft regulations as a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan (28 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Deputy for acknowledging that the NBP is progressing. More than 120,000 families in rural areas across Ireland can now have access to fibre broadband. One member of the public in Wexford wrote to me to say that she can now use her mobile home because she is connected to the network via fibre. The Deputy's question is very specific, and it is a good one. All new-build premises...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan (28 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: The Deputy is absolutely right. The NBP is revitalising rural Ireland. It is allowing people to spend time in their home village or at their home farm, with their family, looking after somebody and they can spend time and spend money in their in their local area. It might not be every day of the week, but just the being able to go back to where they are from and spend time there is...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan (28 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: In this situation, the road has been connected but their house was built since the line was put in. A survey has to be carried out before the house can be connected. The constituent is frustrated by the length of time that it is taking. That is why I am going to work with NBI to agree on a procedure. At the moment, that person is not guaranteed to get broadband within months. Under the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: State Bodies (28 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: The role of Mr. Barry and Mr. Neely is to oversee the preparation of a governance review of the IFI and it is their job to complete that within three to six months. The timeline for the appointment of new members to the board will be based on the availability of the Public Appointments Service to carry out that function. I cannot comment on how long that will take without asking that body,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: State Bodies (28 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: Mr. Barry and Mr. Neely have been charged with carrying out this governance review, which amounts to an external review of the governance within the IFI. To give some information on the sequencing for Deputy O'Rourke, it includes an examination of the respective roles of the IFI board and executive. It will be completed within three to six months and include an implementation plan, and the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Environmental Policy (28 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: Following the enactment of the Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, draft regulations to introduce an environmental levy on single-use disposable cups were published last October for public consultation, together with a comprehensive regulatory impact assessment. The consultation ran for a period of six weeks, providing an important opportunity for all stakeholders to make...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Environmental Policy (28 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: The regulatory impact assessment projected 200 million cups as an absolute minimum and estimates that the real figure could be far higher than that. I expect, as a result of the public consultation, to recommend some changes to what was in the draft regulations. I spoke to many café owners throughout the country to get their direct feedback. As well as waiting for people to come to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Closed-Circuit Television Systems (28 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Deputy for asking this question, which is close to my heart and which I have been following closely since we legislated for it. The policy document, A Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy, contains a commitment to data-proof all waste enforcement legislation to ensure all available and emerging audiovisual recording equipment, including CCTV, can be used in a manner that is...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Closed-Circuit Television Systems (28 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: Many Deputies are aware that there were problems in the past with obtaining evidence to get prosecutions because of challenges under privacy legislation. That is why we have to be so careful that we are ensured privacy-wise that we are compliant with GDPR law in order that we do not get challenged or, if we are challenged, that we can win those challenges. The Deputy is right that Tidy...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Closed-Circuit Television Systems (28 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: Deputy McAuliffe is right that we need to have positive measures. This is not just about enforcement, catching people and criminality. We have a number of different schemes to promote reduction in litter. There is an anti-dumping initiative, which provides €3 million to local authorities for clean-up operations for removing illegal waste when it has been dumped, for household bulky...